My First Borns Birth Story

The build-up

The end of my pregnancy was a wild, stressful ride. At 31 weeks pregnant, I went into preterm labor. At the time, I hadn't even realized I was contracting until at a routine prenatal appointment, my provider noted my abdomen was contracting. She did a vaginal exam and I was three centimeters dilated and had bloody show.

That visit sent me straight to labor and delivery where my contractions continued to progress and become stronger. Luckily, the care team was able to stop my labor from progressing by using magnesium, and I was able to get steroid shots to boost baby's lung development if he did indeed come early. After about 24 hours in the hospital, labor had stalled and I was sent home.

From 31 weeks on, I experienced prodromal labor, and had periods of contracting almost every evening in a steady pattern that got closer together until contractions fizzled out. Almost every evening my contraction timer would say "go to the hospital!" and we would just wait it out. It was a confusing time because we never really knew when the real thing was going to happen. I felt emotionally and physically drained at the end of my pregnancy.

My little love!

The birth

At 38 weeks and 5 days, my contractions began to start a little earlier than normal. Around 5:00 p.m., I logged off of work and went downstairs and did various birth prep positions on the birth ball, breathing through the contractions. The contractions were manageable, but I had a feeling something was different. My husband and I ate dinner together, and the contractions began to strengthen slightly. We decided to call the on-call physician around 7:00 p.m. and let them know what was going on. She recommended coming in to get checked. We took our time getting our things together (I still wasn't fully convinced it was the real thing) and got to the hospital around 9:00 p.m.

The doctor did a cervical exam and determined I was 4 centimeters dilated. While my contractions did slow down at the hospital (this is common), I was still contracting. The team decided I would stay overnight. At about 5:00 a.m. the doctor visited with us again, determined I was 5 centimeters dilated, and offered to break my waters to "speed things up" (doesn't always happen). Looking back, I don't think I would make that decision again, but I was so drained at that point, I was ready to meet my baby.

From then on, things progressed quickly. I was the only patient in labor at that time and had a very attentive group of nurses who were wonderful. They helped get me into different positions that helped baby make his descent. I started out bouncing on the labor ball, then moved into a side lying position using the peanut ball. After laying with the peanut ball, labor intensified quickly. I remember squeezing my husband's hand so hard and not being able to talk much at this point. This was probably around 9:00 a.m.

The sweet nurse who was with us most of the time came into check on me and suggested another position. At that point I told her I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom and throw up. Those magic words mean transition is upon us and the fun is about to begin lol. She had me get on the bed and I got into an all fours position and breathed through crazy intense contractions.

From this stage to pushing gets a little fuzzy because I was SO in labor land. I don't even recall thinking about an epidural or pain meds, something I really expected I would be fighting the urge to get. While on all fours I started to shake really badly and felt like I couldn't hold myself up anymore. The nurses helped me move onto my back (a position I knew I didn't want to push in) but at this point, I couldn't vocalize my preferences and just went with it.

I began pushing at around 11:00 a.m. For me, pushing felt like the most intense workout of my life! I was so sweaty and working so hard! I wish I wasn't on my back because I think gravity would've helped a ton but I digress. I was in total labor land and really had no clue what was going on in the room around me. I remember my husband brushing my hair off my face and trying to communicate to him with my eyes "this is intense" lol.

I remember when the top of baby's head appeared, I figured it was almost over. Unfortunately baby's chin wasn't fully tucked and it took a few good pushes for his head to emerge. This part was super intense, but I remember my doctor looking at me and saying, "you need to push him out now" and really going deep. After two hours of pushing, my sweet boy was born.

The doctor lifted him up and placed him straight on my chest. It was the best feeling I've ever experienced in my life. I remember looking down and trying to get a good look at his face, and just looking at my husband in total awe. After one little roar, he wasn't making any noise so the respiratory doctor came in to evaluate him. After a minute or so, they determined all was okay, and placed him back on my chest. Pure heaven. We snuggled for awhile until one of the nurses suggested that I try to nurse. I was so impressed that he latched right away like he knew just what to do.

After feeding him, the nurses helped me to the restroom for the first time. My parents were able to come into our room and meet him, and brought us lunch. Afterwards, we were transferred to the postnatal unit where we reveled in our tired bubble of newborn bliss.

Lessons from my first birth:

• You will know when you're in active labor -- try to stay home longer before heading in.

• Get a doula -- you will need help advocating for yourself when you're in labor land. I think a doula would've helped me prevented from pushing on my back since that is something I knew I didn't want to do.

• Now that I know the risks of having your waters broken, I don't think I'd do it again.

• Wait to push until you feel like you have to. I think I started pushing a little early and made more work for myself rather than pushing intuitively with my body.

• You are strong enough to have an unmedicated birth!